Ethan on Sara

What was your first impression of her?

She seemed really friendly, but a bit quiet! It wasn’t like drawing blood from a stone or anything, but she was a bit shy at times.

Was it like that the entire night?

No, we got into a reasonably good conversational rhythm. I think it was pretty clear that it wasn’t going to be anything more than that from pretty much the beginning, though.

Just from a lack of ease?

I guess we just didn’t have a crazy amount in common, so we ended up mainly talking about our degrees and stuff. But that was interesting!

So, no truly dreadful moments?

Apart from maybe a few awkward silences when we’d run out of things to talk about, no. It’s definitely not the most awkward first date I’ve been on!

“She definitely wasn’t terrifying”

Any jokes that didn’t land?

No, I'd like to think I'm quite funny.

Do you think she matched the kind of type you described in your application?

I can’t really remember what I put actually.

You wrote that your dream woman was “beautiful, but terrifying”.

(Laughing) Yes, that’s true. No, she definitely wasn’t terrifying, she seemed really nice!

Was there anything else that stood out to you about her?

Just that she was really friendly – I think a first date is often quite awkward and, despite the few silences, I feel like we managed to get through it pretty well!

How long were you out for, then?

I think around two hours.

Even though the conversation wasn’t exactly thriving?

Honestly, that’s the shortest date I’ve ever been on!

Do you think that’s more a ‘you’ thing, that you’re chatty?

Yeah, I do.

“The shortest date I’ve ever been on”

So, you guys parted ways after the pub?

Yeah, I think we might’ve both had plans later in the evening.

Were you kind of checking your watch the whole time?

No! But at one point she asked if I had any plans later on and that was kind of a sign that she was done, wasn’t it?

You didn’t think maybe she wanted to be your plan?

It definitely wasn’t that!

So, you think she was trying to soft-launch leaving?

I think so, but we ended up staying like another hour!

Any half-hearted plans made to see each other again?

No…

Did you exchange numbers?

No… that wasn’t even a thing! I was almost going to ask out of politeness, but the vibe was clear.

And what would you rate the night on a scale from one to ten?

A seven feels really high, but a six feels really low.

Seven implies a bit of hope, I think.

Definitely a six then.

All the elements were there maybe, it just wasn’t meant to be.

Yeah, that!

Sara on Ethan

So, how did things kick off?

Well, I thought he seemed sweet! He made a show of opening the door for me and taking out his wallet as we headed into the bar which was nice.

“He made a show of opening the door for me”

And how did it flow from there?

He seemed a bit nervous at first, but I’m a pretty chatty person so it was fine. I asked why he signed up and stuff, and then we just started talking about our subjects.

Were you nervous, too?

A little bit, but I just went in kind of head empty, no thoughts — I just wanted a nice couple of hours!

Did the conversation go okay?

It was quite good! Most of it was about academics and stuff, but we moved onto our families and holidays — we ended up getting through quite a lot.

How would you describe him?

I’d say he’s very sweet, and I appreciated him being gentlemanly – just good company, I think! It was a nice evening.

Do you think you guys got on particularly well, or was it kind of cookie-cutter?

Probably more cookie-cutter. It was nice, but I didn’t think there was anything extraordinary there.

Nothing to write home about, chemistry-wise?

Not really.

You got the vibe that it was more platonic, then?

Definitely, from pretty early on.

Did you rush home afterwards to tell your friends about it?

Oh yeah, they were so excited. Everyone was just hanging around waiting for me to arrive and give them the scoop. I think they were more invested in the possibility of it than I was!

So, what would you rate the experience from one to ten?

Like a 6.5?

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